Why I had to get home by Monday night

The Monday before Christmas our family has a caroling party.  Part of the crisis in getting home through cancelled flights this year was making it home in time for this party.  I know that seems a little melodramatic, and it was a little bit, but the family caroling party is a big deal for me.  This is usually how it goes: First we sing to the neighbors.

Second, we all pile in the van.  Everyone who doesn't have a seat sits in the back of the van.  Then the swan biting/wrestling match begins in the back of the van.  Scott usually starts the fight. He's 38.  And a bishop.  I'm just sayin'...
Those in the back of the van do their very best to drag everyone who has a seat into the back of the van.  It can get a little brutal...
This is me avoiding getting dragged into the back of the van...

This is Brian getting worked by Tommy and our nephie Paul...
This is me getting worked while working Tommy...
This is Abby trying to protect her husband...  I love Tom's taunting face.
Utter chaos.
And me cowering in the corner.  At one point my face was pressed up against the glass and I prayed that the side door wouldn't come open...  Mom was afraid we were going to ruin our singing voices with all the screaming.  She has stopped worrying about the roughness.  She knows if it starts to get out of hand Dad will take care of it by hitting the brakes.

Of course the caroling has a destination.  We go sing to the widows in our ward.  

This is Betty.  She's like another grandmother to me.  

After we sing, we go home for goodies and games.  Christmas Basket is a Bradshaw Family favorite.  I just tried to explain it here but I just don't think I can.  It requires a sturdy whacking device, fast thinking, and a good sense of humor.    

Brian was the victim of a Christmas Basket secret combination.  He chose "Present"  as his Christmas Basket identity.... It was the most popular name of the night.  My brothers dubbed me Vixen, despite my requests to be "bow" instead.  Anytime my name was called I called out Comet...who wasn't in the game.  I kept meaning to say Candy Cane (which was Tommy's identity) but it never came out right before I got whacked.  There was no mercy last night.
Brian did an awful lot of jumping up and down and dodging. 
And Tommy was the victim of revenge... 

We had a great night as a family, singing to our friends, singing to our neighbors, playing as a family.  As we all stumbled into bed, I heaved a sigh of relief that I was home and had made it in time for the party.  When I was in Dallas, stuck, I wondered if it was worth it.  

It definitely was.

Today was the last bit of Christmas shopping, Santana's (finally - delicious), and a nice, long run down to the cliffs with my AWESOME GPS WATCH.  It's really good to be home.